Play the Game Tetris

Basic Hints and Tips

A lot of techniques come with playing Tetris. Each player has their own way of playing and creating rows and moving blocks around. There are some universal techniques to use that players have utilized the world over.

• Always know what piece is coming up as you manipulate your current piece. It may help you determine how you want to set up a row or even the current piece. Most times, you need to know where the next piece is going as soon as your new piece appears. This takes practice and being quick on the rotation will give you the speed you need to drop that piece immediately.
• Try to create solid rows and walls. This takes practice and eventually your eye will become used to glancing at your foundation.
• Remember that you get a lot more points from clearing 4 rows than just 1 at a time.
• Use the long piece to complete your four rows by making sure you create space on the left side or right side of the board. The reason is that it's harder to fit the 'z' and 't' pieces on the edge.
• If you need to create a hole, work on making it disappear as soon as you can.
• When you reach the higher levels where the speed increases, you may have to forget about making 4 row scores. At this point, just concentrate on one line, maybe two lines, at a time.

Intermediate Hints and Tips to Play the Game Tetris

Once you start getting better and faster at manipulating the pieces, it's time to step up your game when you play the game Tetris.

• An overhang is when the end of a Tetris piece creates a space below it. Now, if you can, try to fill that immediately. This takes some dexterity because you need to allow the piece to fall next to the hole, then quickly push its end into the hole before it is forced down to the next line.
• Something that may not occur to you until you get better and start hitting those higher levels is to not panic. It is human nature to panic, especially if your goal is to reach the 100th level. The pieces get faster and you get more nervous. It's natural, but once you realize that nothing is going to come at you, then you'll be fine.
• Once the levels start getting faster, you will want to keep the number of lines low. Eight to ten lines should be sufficient so that if you do mess-up or need to place odd pieces, then you will have room to work with. With time, you will figure out on which level you'll need to start working your lines down before the faster ones start. Think a few levels ahead.

Advanced Tetris Hints and Tips

Okay, so you've got the basics down and even have some intermediate techniques to flash around. Now it's time for some serious game.

• At the beginning of the game, start in the middle. When creating your four lines, use the long pieces to block off space on the edge if you get them early.
• The 'Z' piece is the hardest to place if you only have a smooth line with no rises or dips. In that case, always try to have at least one rise or dip available for those pieces and don't worry because once you place a 'Z' piece another rise or dip becomes available to use if you need.

Tetris for Tournaments?

To play the game Tetris well, it takes practice. The above hints and tips should help you reach levels you may not have reached before and handle speeds you haven't encountered. If you feel confident enough, why not take your game to a Tetris tournament?